Illegal Mining Now a Governance Threat, KAIPTC Warns
Senior military official warns illegal mining now threatens governance, security and state authority as national dialogue reaches critical juncture
A senior official at one of Africa’s most respected security and peacekeeping institutions has issued a stark assessment of Ghana’s illegal mining crisis, warning that the country can no longer afford to treat the problem as a matter for isolated crackdowns or single-sector responses, and that what is now required is nothing short of a coordinated national strategy built on honest institutional reflection and genuine cross-sector collaboration.
Brigadier General Zibrim Bawah Ayorrogo, Deputy Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), delivered the remarks on Tuesday, March 24, while addressing participants at the National Validation and Dialogue Workshops on the Safety and Security Ecosystem of Illegal Mining in Ghana, a forum he described as a pivotal moment in a carefully structured national process.
The workshop did not emerge in isolation. Brigadier General Ayorrogo explained that the gathering represents the culmination of a structured engagement process that began at the community level, moved through regional consultations, and has now arrived at a national platform for decision-making, a deliberate architecture designed to ensure that the voices of those most affected by illegal mining are not lost in translation as the conversation moves up the policy ladder.
Two intensive regional validation workshops had recently been held in the Ashanti Region and the Western Region, two of the areas most deeply impacted by the galamsey crisis. Those sessions brought together a wide cross-section of stakeholders, including mining communities, traditional authorities, district assemblies, youth and women’s groups, security agencies, regulators, and civil society organizations.
“What has emerged clearly,” Brigadier General Ayorrogo told participants, “is that illegal mining can no longer be addressed through isolated enforcement actions or sector-specific responses.”
The Deputy Commandant’s framing of the illegal mining problem was notable for its breadth. He described galamsey not merely as an environmental or economic issue but as a complex, multi-dimensional national security concern, one that now cuts across environmental degradation, economic survival, youth unemployment, public trust in institutions, and the fundamental coherence of state authority in affected areas.
It is a characterisation that reflects the evolution of the problem over time. What may have begun as small-scale informal mining activity has, in many corridors, developed into deeply entrenched networks that have proven resistant to conventional enforcement approaches.
Of particular concern, he noted, were reports of illegal and improvised weapons circulating in certain mining corridors, a development he described as a destabilizing factor that connects local insecurity directly to organized crime and broader regional vulnerabilities that extend well beyond Ghana’s borders.
A recurring theme from the regional consultations was the fragmentation of institutional mandates and the weak coordination among state agencies tasked with addressing illegal mining. Brigadier General Ayorrogo was direct in his assessment of the consequences: these gaps have created conditions in which criminal and economic networks have been able to adapt, reorganize, and continue operating, particularly in remote and high-risk mining areas where state presence is limited.
He used the national forum as an opportunity to call for honest reflection on whether Ghana’s existing legal frameworks, regulatory systems, and security arrangements are genuinely aligned with the realities being experienced on the ground.
“This is a moment for honest and constructive reflection,” he stated, “to determine where our coordination mechanisms are effective and where gaps, overlaps or ambiguities continue to undermine implementation, accountability and public confidence.”
At the institutional level, the Deputy Commandant highlighted the National Integrated Mechanism for Addressing Illegal Mining, known as NIAMOS, as a central pillar of any coherent nationally owned response to the crisis. He called for stronger, more purposeful collaboration among government ministries, security services, regulatory bodies, local authorities, and development partners to ensure that the recommendations emerging from the national dialogue process are translated into concrete, measurable action rather than remaining on paper.
He also acknowledged the role of the Embassy of Spain in Accra, whose strategic and financial backing he credited with enabling the initiative to progress from field research and regional dialogue all the way to national policy engagement.
Looking beyond the immediate forum, Brigadier General Ayorrogo outlined an ambitious but practical objective: the production of not only a consolidated policy brief but a realistic implementation roadmap complete with clearly defined leadership responsibilities, strengthened coordination mechanisms, and timelines for action, monitoring, and review.
The goal, he made clear, is tangible improvement in the lives of people living and working in mining-affected communities, not merely better-worded policy documents.
“Our aim is to ensure that communities in mining-affected areas experience tangible improvements in safety, accountability and opportunity,” he said.
He closed with a call for participants to bring openness, mutual respect, and shared responsibility to the discussions ahead, framing the forum’s ultimate strength not in its institutional composition but in its collective willingness to listen across boundaries and commit to practical steps.
“The strength of this forum lies in our willingness to listen across institutional and sectoral boundaries, to balance national priorities with community realities, and to commit to practical steps that restore public trust,” he said.
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